ArHi FF: The Synchrony Of Being Chapter 4, Page 13

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Chapter 1- Thrown Together...

He threw back his head and closed his eyes, tired from the day's work. He took off his shoes with slow, deliberate motions and massaged his feet, feeling the warmth of his palms against his aching soles. The summer day had almost come to an end and he gently rubbed his eyelids to ease off the heaviness. Lack of sleep was finally overpowering, he thought dully. He was about to get up for his hot shower when he heard it. The sound of heavy anklets which announced his wife's return from her dance classes was clear with her movements as she walked towards their room.

The momentary comfort offered by solitude was snatched away and he quickly turned around to find her entering the room, carrying the ghunghroo in her right hand and a bag in other. He noticed the slight stiffening of her spine as she took him in. Her feet stopped for a few, negligible moments before resuming their momentum towards the closet. Her eyes met his and she gave him a smile which he returned with a nod before hurrying off to the bathroom.

Once in the shower, he leant against the damp glass wall, allowing water to bounce off his hard frame. He could see her belongings on the side of the sink- an extra toothbrush, her sunscreen. He closed his fists to control the sudden urge to knock them off and reclaim the space. But the feeling ebbed away as quickly it had surfaced, leaving him with a trace of regret. Why did tiniest of things like these irk him so much, he wondered as he resumed shampooing his hair. It was not as if she deliberately irritated him, or tried to invade his space. She was as bound by this relationship as he was. The stark difference in their personalities and lifestyle was quite difficult to accommodate in their bedroom and their life.

He wondered if there could be any girl who could be as different from him as she was. She was barely a graduate, having left her education along with her hometown in the wake of this wedding while he was Masters from Cambridge University. She resorted to her Devi Maiya in the times of crisis while he took refuge in his chess and Rubik's cube. She danced, sang and played a couple of musical instruments while he was almost allergic to sounds. Yet he had found himself sitting in the mandap in the hastily put up wedding pandal, waiting for her as she walked with slow steps dressed in her bridal attire.

He wondered for the first time if there was, indeed, a Devi Maiyya watching over them who had made him end his year long relationship with Lavanya and marry this girl. He could have gone against his Nani's wishes had he taken a firm stand, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that the decision was forced upon him. He recalled meeting her for the very first time when he had accompanied his Nani for her old friend's grand daughter's wedding to his brother. She was the bride's sister, bright and welcoming, the typical loudmouth. Dressed gaudily in her gota embellished attire, she had caught fancy of his Nani. He was more than happy to see the end of the wedding end so that he could retire back to his peaceful abode but fate had other plans. A major heart attack, last wish to see his daughter settled and sudden death later, which left her fatherless, she was married off to him. He could still remember her thin form shaking as her father asked Nani for his hand in marriage. Apparently, they had taken a huge loan to marry off Payal, which in his opinion was stupidity in the first place. Also, it was divulged that the man Khushi was engaged to had turned out to be a fraud and left her reputation tarnished. When he came to think of it now, all this and much more was not really enough to push him into marrying her. But he still went ahead and agreed, tying the managalsutra around her neck and taking the rounds around the fire.

He toweled himself dry, his mind still running in flashback as he recalled her stifled sobs at night when she thought he had fallen asleep. Her face was deprived of the cheery laughter and her eyes carried around the weight of her loss in them. She had been happy to keep distance from him, hardly interfering in his routine. It was almost as if she had decided to live her life parallel to him rather than merge it with her own.

He had seen her wandering around the large house aimlessly, sometimes dusting the already polished furniture or rearranging the show pieces unnecessarily. So he had been glad when Payal had approached him and asked him if she could at least continue her training in dance and music. He had obliged readily, at first wondering why he was being asked for "permission". Such a huge amount of control over a stranger's life made him extremely uncomfortable.

So now, while he was gone, she attended her dance classes. Sometimes, she practiced on the terrace and he could hear the chimes of her ghunghroo penetrating the heavy silence of the house. Strangely, even as he knew that his sister watched Khushi dance regularly, he never checked on it. He felt as if it was something extremely private, especially because she came back with red eyes and nose quite frequently.

He put on his clothes and entered the bedroom, knowing well that she would be gone by then to assist in the kitchen. His juice and snack were placed on the coffee table. He suddenly stopped at the sight of her ghunghroo on the bed. She rarely left her stuff lying around, a habit he greatly appreciated. Thus he was surprised to see her prized belonging lying against the deep red sheets carelessly. The sight was strangely sensual, he realized as he saw the gleaming round metal beads against the soft, shiny covers. He bent to pick them up and they chimed, rolling over in his palm. Light bounced off them and he dropped the anklet back on the bed wondering what made him even touch it. Even the anklets refused to chime musically in his hands, producing an unsynchronized sound which conflicted within itself. Much like them, he though as he turned around. He saw her standing there, observing him with a closed expression.

Chapter 2 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2731590/arhi-ff-the-synchrony-of-being-chapter-4-page-13?pn=3

First one to comment... Great start... They are already married...she was forced onto him.. lets what happens next...

Lovely start. Please continue soon.

super interesting.. love the way you have started... i am so eager to read more... very very well written...

this is amazing!! plz add me in! pm me! and one fav? could u plz not Italicize? it gets hard to read unless its bold italics!

well written, pm me please 😊

Great start... Waiting for the next chapter.

Good start👏 Please continue soon and add me to your pm list:)